Liverpool ‘dark horses’ to sign £80m man as Arsenal ‘prioritise’ player whose ‘price has dropped’ | OneFootball

Liverpool have reportedly ’emerged as dark horses’ in the race to sign Brighton’s Moises Caicedo amid reports linking him with Arsenal and Chelsea.

It is well-known that Liverpool are in the market for at least one new midfielder ahead of the summer transfer window.

They have been linked with Caicedo but he was targeted by Arsenal and Chelsea last month. Both clubs had bids rejected for the midfielder, who is valued at around £80m by Brighton.

Roberto De Zerbi banished Caicedo before the window closed as the midfielder was trying to engineer a move away from Brighton.

The Ecuador international has since returned to the fold, but it remains to be seen whether he will leave Brighton later this year.

A report from Ben Jacobs for TEAMtalk has suggested that Liverpool are ‘dark horses’ in the battle to sign Caicedo, as Arsenal’s ‘number one midfield target’ is Declan Rice.

Jacobs adds that the West Ham United star’s “price has dropped significantly’ compared to last summer.

“So with Arsenal, their No.1 midfield target remains Declan Rice in the summer, and they will compete with Chelsea and possibly Manchester United as well,” Jacobs told TEAMtalk.

“But sources have always told me that Rice’s priority is to stay in London if he possibly can and that would lend itself towards an Arsenal or Chelsea move. And with Declan Rice, the price has dropped significantly compared to what West Ham were quoting last summer in order to try and ward off suitors.

“So, the teams that were asked about Rice were told a fee was well in excess of £100m, which is essentially saying he is not for sale because nobody was going to pay that last summer.

“This summer, Rice could be available for as low as £70-75m, which Arsenal and Chelsea will see as great value. So Rice is one to watch for Arsenal and also Chelsea as well. They will be the two that are pushing for him.”

Jacobs later suggested that Liverpool are “ones to watch” when it comes to Caicedo, as they have “historical interest” in the centre-midfielder.

“Back to Caicedo, we can’t rule out Arsenal as well but it remains to be seen if they’ll pay the same kind of fee that they were offering in January. Caicedo’s price could actually drop a little bit rather than go up,” Jacobs added.

“Chelsea could also be back, as they’ll want more than one midfielder and Caicedo has worked with Graham Potter before. Liverpool might be ones to watch as well, as they’ve had a historical interest in Caicedo since before he moved to Brighton.

“However, they never bid in January, contrary to what reports said. The reason for that is two-fold, one because they didn’t see value at the kind of figures being quoted and two, because the agent situation was complicated and those are not the type of deals that Liverpool normally do. But if we get to the summer and the deal becomes simpler and falls within Liverpool’s valuation then they could go for Caicedo too.

“Liverpool need a new engine room too, so those are the three clubs to watch. But we have to now determine what the actual price is going to be in all likelihood for Caicedo. And that will depend on the volume of suitors but also other available midfielders that are available in the market.”